How old was he when he died? How old was Stalin at the time of his death
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin died in 1953. The day of Stalin's death is indicated as March 5, the time of death is 21 hours 50 minutes. If we talk about what time he died Stalin, these figures vary somewhat. According to one version, the leader was born in 1878, according to another in 1879. Therefore, various sources indicate that Stalin died at the age of 73 years old or 74 years old.
If the question “How old did Stalin die?” difficult to answer, the place of death of the Soviet leader almost everyone knows - at his residence on Nearby dacha. Despite the fact that doctors named the official cause of Joseph Vissarionovich’s death as stroke, many are still trying to find an answer to the question about the causes of the leader’s death.
Some skeptics see Stalin's death as a secret conspiracy by his inner circle. It is worth noting that Joseph Vissarionovich was the first and last leader of the Soviet state for whom a memorial service was held in the Orthodox Church.
The leader was not very fond of alcohol, but sometimes he could take a sip. At the end of the Great Patriotic War, Stalin began to complain about his health more often. He was diagnosed with atherosclerosis. The reason for the exacerbation of such a serious illness was the Soviet leader’s addiction to smoking. In 1945, shortly before the celebration of the Victory Parade, the Soviet leader suffered a stroke. And in the fall of the same year he suffered a severe heart attack. It did not have the best effect on his health.
Why and from what did Stalin die?
On the night of the first day of March 1953, Stalin attended a large dinner and was busy watching a film. On the early spring morning of March 1, he arrived at his residence at the Near Dacha in Kuntsevo. This residence is located 15 kilometers from the center of the capital. He was accompanied by:
- Minister of Internal Affairs Beria L.;
- Malenkov;
- Khrushchev;
- Bulganin.
The last three became heads of the domestic government after Stalin’s death. Upon arrival at the residence, Joseph Vissarionovich went to his bedroom. He was never seen alive again. According to the Soviet leader's guards, they were alarmed by the fact that Stalin did not leave his bedroom at his usual time. They received instructions not to disturb the leader and not to disturb him until the evening. Stalin's body was found late in the evening at about 10 p.m. by the commandant of the village of Kuntsevo, Pyotr Logachev. According to him, the Soviet leader was lying face up on the floor. He was dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt. It is also noted that his pants were wet in the groin area.
Commandant Logachev was seriously scared. He spoke to Joseph Vissarionovich, asking: “What happened?” But in response I heard some unintelligible sounds. There was a telephone in the Soviet leader's bedroom, which Logachev used to call government officials. He reported that he found Stalin in the room, and perhaps he suffered another stroke. The commandant also asked to send doctors to the leader’s residence.
How Stalin died
One of the first to learn about what happened was the Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, Lavrentiy Beria. He arrived at Stalin's residence at Nizhnyaya Dacha within a few hours. But the doctors arrived only the next morning. They examined the Soviet leader and made a disappointing diagnosis: a stroke caused by high blood pressure with bleeding in the stomach.
In those days, it was customary to carry out treatment with leeches, although they were against it. Stalin was treated in the same way. The very next day, namely March 3, the leader’s double, Felix Dadaev, was summoned to the capital of the USSR. He was supposed to replace Stalin at important government events if he was unable to do so. But it was never possible to replace Stalin.
Where did Stalin die?
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin died on March 5, 1953 in his bedroom at his residence at the Blizhnaya Dacha. At that time he was 73 or 74 years old (according to various sources).
On March 4, the media reported about the serious illness of Joseph Vissarionovich, indicating all the smallest details of the medical examination. It was decided not to report the exact date and place where the leader was struck by the disease. Therefore, according to media reports, Stalin suffered a stroke on March 2 in Moscow.
Later, Vyacheslav Molotov wrote in his book that Lavrentiy Beria boasted to him: “It was I who poisoned Stalin.” Molotov's memoirs were published in 1993.
High blood pressure and stroke cannot cause stomach bleeding, but warfarin poisoning can, experts say. It is strange that the official report of Stalin’s doctors does not mention gastric bleeding at all. Hence, it was suggested by some experts that it was Lavrentiy Beria, with the support of Nikita Khrushchev, who poisoned Stalin by adding warfarin to the wine during that very night dinner. The Soviet people were informed about the death of the leader by announcer Yuri Levitan. Stalin was embalmed on March 9, 1953 in the Lenin Mausoleum. Eight years later he was buried near the Kremlin wall.
On October 26 at 9 a.m., 73-year-old Nikolai Karachentsov died. The artist has been battling lung cancer since 2017 - doctors found an inoperable tumor in him. The actor’s death was confirmed by his son Andrei Karachentsov.
The People's Artist died in the intensive care unit of Moscow Hospital No. 62, where he had recently been hospitalized with bilateral pneumonia.
When will the farewell to Nikolai Karachentsov take place?
The sad news was reported by the artist’s son, Andrey. Back in early October, Nikolai Karachentsov was hospitalized with pneumonia. And in 2017, the actor was diagnosed with a tumor in his right lung.
Farewell to Karachentsov will take place at the Lenkom Theater.
“Nikolai Petrovich died today,” the actor’s wife Lyudmila Porgina confirmed the sad news.
Brief biography of Nikolai Karatsentsov
Nikolai Karachentsov was born on October 27, 1944 in Moscow, into a creative family. His mother was a choreographer, and his father was an artist. As a child, he took part in amateur performances, and after graduating from school he entered the Moscow Art Theater School. Karachentsov worked all his life at Lenkom, where he was assigned in 1967. Before director Mark Zakharov came to the theater, Karachentsov was trusted mainly with the roles of young, energetic and charming guys. But in 1973, Zakharov staged the buffoon comedy “Til” based on the play by Grigory Gorin, in which Karachentsov played the main role - the tramp and joker Til Eulenspiegel. The day after the premiere, the actor woke up famous.
The next important role in Karachentsov’s career is Count Nikolai Rezanov in the legendary play “Juno and Avos,” which was also directed by Mark Zakharov. The premiere of this rock opera took place in 1981, and it is still part of the Lenkom repertoire.
The last words of Nikolai Karachentsov became known
The last words of the famous actor Nikolai Karachentsov, who died on Friday morning in the hospital, were about the wedding. Before his death, the artist turned to his wife Lyudmila Porgina, MK reports with reference to a number of Telegram channels.
“Don’t be afraid, everything will be fine, you and I are married. The Lord is with us,” said Karanchentsov before his death.
According to Porgina, Karachentsov, whose kidneys failed, held out until the last. The artist's wife added that he was a very strong person - both physically and spiritually.
The day Lenin died is written in black letters in Russian history. This happened on January 21, 1924, the leader of the world proletariat did not live only three months before his 54th birthday. Doctors, historians, and modern researchers have not yet agreed on why Lenin died. Mourning was declared in the country. After all, the man who managed to be the first in the world to build a socialist state, and in the largest country, has passed away.
Sudden death
Despite the fact that Vladimir Lenin was seriously ill for many months, his death was sudden. This happened on the evening of January 21. The year was 1924, Soviet power had already been established throughout the entire Land of Soviets, and the day when Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died became a national tragedy for the entire state. Mourning was declared throughout the country, flags were lowered at half-mast, and mourning rallies were held at enterprises and institutions.
Expert opinions
When Lenin died, a medical council was immediately assembled, in which the leading doctors of that time participated. Officially, doctors published this version of premature death: acute circulatory disorders in the brain and, as a result, hemorrhage in the brain. Thus, the cause of death could have been a repeated major stroke. There was also a version that Lenin suffered for many years from a venereal disease - syphilis, which a certain French woman infected him with.
This version has not been excluded from the causes of the death of the proletarian leader to this day.
Could syphilis be the cause?
When Lenin died, an autopsy was performed on his body. Pathologists discovered that there was extensive calcification in the vessels of the brain. Doctors could not explain the reason for this. Firstly, he led a fairly healthy lifestyle and never smoked. He was not obese or hypertensive and did not have a brain tumor or other obvious lesions. Also, Vladimir Ilyich had neither infectious diseases nor diabetes, in which the vessels could have suffered such damage.
As for syphilis, this could have been the cause of Lenin’s death. After all, at that time this disease was treated with very dangerous medications that could cause complications for the entire body. However, neither the symptoms of the disease nor the results of the autopsy confirmed that the cause of death could be a venereal disease.
Bad heredity or severe stress?
53 years old - that’s how old Lenin died. For the beginning of the twentieth century, this was a fairly young age. Why did he leave so early? According to some researchers, the cause of such an early death could have been the leader’s poor heredity. After all, as you know, his father died at exactly the same age. According to the symptoms and descriptions of eyewitnesses, he had the same disease that his son later suffered from. And other close relatives of the leader had a history of cardiovascular diseases.
Another reason that could have affected Lenin’s health was his incredible workload and constant stress. It is known that he slept very little, had practically no rest and worked quite a lot. Historians describe a well-known fact: in 1921, at one important event, Lenin completely forgot the words of his own speech. He had a stroke, after which he had to learn to speak again. He could barely write. He had to spend a lot of time on rehabilitation and recovery.
Unusual seizures
But after Ilyich suffered a hypertensive stroke, he came to his senses and recovered quite well. In the early days of 1924, he was so fit that he even went hunting himself.
It is unclear how the leader’s last day went. As the diaries show, he was quite active, talked a lot and did not complain about anything. But a few hours before his death, he suffered several severe convulsive seizures. They did not fit into the picture of a stroke. Therefore, some researchers believe that the cause of the sharp deterioration in health could be ordinary poison.
Stalin's hand?
Today not only historians, but also many educated people know when Lenin was born and died. Previously, every schoolchild remembered these dates by heart. But neither doctors nor researchers can still name the exact reason why this happened. There is another interesting theory - Lenin, they say, was poisoned by Stalin. The latter sought to gain absolute power, and Vladimir Ilyich was a serious obstacle on this path. By the way, later Joseph Vissarionovich resorted to poisoning as a sure way to eliminate his opponents. And this makes you think seriously.
Lenin, who initially supported Stalin, sharply changed his mind and bet on the candidacy of Leon Trotsky. Historians claim that Vladimir Ilyich was preparing to remove Stalin from governing the country. He gave him a very unflattering description, called him cruel and rude, and noted that Stalin was abusing power. Lenin's letter addressed to the congress is known, where Ilyich sharply criticized Stalin and his leadership style.
By the way, the story of the poison also has a right to exist because a year earlier, in 1923, Stalin wrote a report addressed to the Politburo. It said that Lenin wanted to poison himself and asked him to get a dose of potassium cyanide. Stalin said that he could not do this. Who knows, maybe Vladimir Ilyich Lenin himself suggested the scenario of his death to his future successor?
By the way, for some reason doctors did not conduct a toxicological study at the time. Well, then it was too late to do such tests.
And one moment. At the end of January 1924, the 13th Party Congress was to take place. Surely Ilyich, speaking at it, would again raise the question of Stalin’s behavior.
Eyewitness accounts
Some eyewitnesses also speak in favor of poisoning as the sure cause of Lenin’s death. The writer Elena Lermolo, who was exiled to hard labor, communicated with Vladimir Ilyich’s personal chef Gavriil Volkov in the 30s of the twentieth century. He told the following story. In the evening he brought dinner to Lenin. He was already in poor condition and could not talk. He handed the cook a note in which he wrote: “Gavryushenka, I was poisoned, I am poisoned.” Lenin understood that he would soon die. And he asked that Leon Trotsky and Nadezhda Krupskaya, as well as members of the Politburo, be informed about the poisoning.
By the way, for the last three days Lenin complained of constant nausea. But during the autopsy, doctors saw that his stomach was in almost perfect condition. He could not have had an intestinal infection - it was winter, and such diseases are uncharacteristic for this time of year. Well, only the freshest food was prepared for the leader and it was carefully checked.
Leader's funeral
The year when Lenin died is marked with a black mark in the history of the Soviet state. After the death of the leader, an active struggle for power began. Many of his comrades were repressed, shot and destroyed.
Lenin died in Gorki near Moscow on January 24 at 18:50. His body was transported to the capital by steam locomotive, and the coffin was installed in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. Within five days, the people could say goodbye to the leader of the new country, which had just begun to build socialism. Then the coffin with the body was installed in the Mausoleum, which was specially built for this purpose on Red Square by the architect Shchusev. Until now, the body of the leader, the founder of the world's first socialist state, remains there.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian statesman and political figure, the founder of the Soviet state and the Communist Party. Under his leadership, the date of Lenin’s birth and death of the leader took place - 1870, April 22, and 1924, January 21, respectively.
Political and government activities
In 1917, after arriving in Petrograd, the leader of the proletariat led the October Uprising. He was elected Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (Council of People's Commissars) and the Council of Peasant and Workers' Defense. was a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Since 1918, Lenin lived in Moscow. In conclusion, the leader of the proletariat played a key role. It was discontinued in 1922 due to serious illness. The date of Lenin's birth and death of the politician, thanks to his active work, went down in history.
Events of 1918
In 1918, on August 30, a coup d'état began. Trotsky was absent from Moscow at that time - he was on the Eastern Front, in Kazan. Dzerzhinsky was forced to leave the capital in connection with the murder of Uritsky. A very tense situation has developed in Moscow. Colleagues and relatives insisted that Vladimir Ilyich not go anywhere or attend any events. But the leader of the Bolsheviks refused to violate the schedule of speeches by the leaders of the regional authorities. A performance was planned in the Basmanny district, at the Bread Exchange. According to the recollections of the secretary of the Yampolskaya district committee, Lenin’s security was entrusted to Shablovsky, who was then supposed to escort Vladimir Ilyich to Zamoskvorechye. However, two or three hours before the expected start of the meeting, it was reported that the leader had been asked not to speak. But the leader still came to the Bread Exchange. He was guarded, as expected, by Shablovsky. But there was no security at the Mikhelson plant.
Who killed Lenin?
Kaplan (Fanny Efimovna) was the perpetrator of the attempt on the life of the leader. From the beginning of 1918, she actively collaborated with the right Socialist Revolutionaries, who were then in a semi-legal position. The leader of the proletariat, Kaplan, was brought to the place of speech in advance. She shot from a Browning almost point-blank. All three bullets fired from the weapon hit Lenin. The leader's driver, Gil, witnessed the assassination attempt. He did not see Kaplan in the dark, and when he heard the shots, as some sources testify, he was confused and did not shoot back. Later, deflecting suspicion from himself, Gil said during interrogations that after the leader’s speech, a crowd of workers came out into the factory yard. This is what prevented him from opening fire. Vladimir Ilyich was wounded, but not killed. Subsequently, according to historical evidence, the perpetrator of the assassination attempt was shot and her body was burned.
The leader’s health deteriorated, moving to Gorki
In 1922, in March, Vladimir Ilyich began to have quite frequent seizures, accompanied by loss of consciousness. The following year, paralysis and speech impairment developed on the right side of the body. However, despite such a serious condition, doctors hoped to improve the situation. In May 1923, Lenin was transported to Gorki. Here his health improved noticeably. And in October he even asked to be transported to Moscow. However, he did not stay in the capital for long. By winter, the Bolshevik leader’s condition had improved so much that he began to try to write with his left hand, and during the Christmas tree in December, he spent the entire evening with the children.
Events of the last days before the death of the leader
As People's Commissar of Health Semashko testified, two days before his death, Vladimir Ilyich went hunting. This was confirmed by Krupskaya. She said that the day before Lenin was in the forest, but, apparently, he was very tired. When Vladimir Ilyich was sitting on the balcony, he was very pale and kept falling asleep in his chair. In recent months he has not slept at all during the day. A few days before her death, Krupskaya already felt the approach of something terrible. The leader looked very tired and exhausted. He turned very pale, and his gaze, as Nadezhda Konstantinovna recalled, became different. But, despite the alarming signals, a hunting trip was planned for January 21. According to doctors, all this time the brain continued to progress, as a result of which parts of the brain “switched off” one after another.
Last day of life
Professor Osipov, who treated Lenin, describes this day, testifying to the leader’s general malaise. On the 20th he had poor appetite and was in a sluggish mood. He didn't want to study that day. At the end of the day, Lenin was put to bed. He was prescribed a light diet. This state of lethargy was observed the next day; the politician remained in bed for four hours. He was visited in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening. During the day, an appetite appeared, the leader was given broth. By six o'clock the malaise increased, cramps appeared in the legs and arms, and the politician lost consciousness. The doctor testifies that the right limbs were very tense - it was impossible to bend the leg at the knee. Convulsive movements were also observed in the left side of the body. The seizure was accompanied by increased cardiac activity and increased breathing. The number of respiratory movements approached 36, and the heart contracted at a speed of 120-130 beats per minute. Along with this, a very threatening sign appeared, which consisted of a violation of the correct breathing rhythm. This type of cerebral breathing is very dangerous and almost always indicates the approach of a fatal end. After some time, the condition stabilized somewhat. The number of respiratory movements decreased to 26, and the pulse decreased to 90 beats per minute. Lenin’s body temperature at that moment was 42.3 degrees. This increase was caused by a convulsive continuous state, which gradually began to weaken. Doctors began to harbor some hope for normalization of the condition and a favorable outcome of the seizure. However, at 18.50, blood suddenly rushed to Lenin’s face, it turned red and purple. Then the leader took a deep breath, and the next moment he died. Afterwards artificial respiration was applied. Doctors tried to bring Vladimir Ilyich back to life for 25 minutes, but all manipulations were ineffective. He died of cardiac and respiratory paralysis.
The mystery of Lenin's death
The official medical report stated that the leader had progressed widespread cerebral atherosclerosis. At one point, due to circulatory disorders and hemorrhage into the soft membrane, Vladimir Ilyich died. However, a number of historians believe that Lenin was assassinated, namely: he was poisoned. The leader's condition worsened gradually. According to historian Lurie, Vladimir Ilyich suffered a stroke in 1921, as a result of which the right side of his body was paralyzed. However, by 1924 he was able to recover enough that he was able to go hunting. Neurologist Winters, who studied the medical history in detail, even testified that several hours before his death the leader was very active and even talked. Shortly before the fatal end, several convulsive seizures occurred. But, according to the neurologist, it was just a manifestation of a stroke - these symptoms are characteristic of this pathological condition. However, it was not only and not so much a matter of illness. So why did Lenin die? According to the conclusion of the toxicological examination, which was carried out during the autopsy, traces were found in the leader’s body. Based on this, experts concluded that the cause of death was poison.
Researchers' versions
If the leader was poisoned, then who killed Lenin? Over time, various versions began to be put forward. Stalin became the main "suspect". According to historians, it was he who benefited more than anyone else from the death of the leader. Joseph Stalin sought to become the leader of the country, and only by eliminating Vladimir Ilyich could he achieve this. According to another version of who killed Lenin, suspicion fell on Trotsky. However, this conclusion is less plausible. Many historians are of the opinion that it was Stalin who ordered the murder. Despite the fact that Vladimir Ilyich and Joseph Vissarionovich were comrades-in-arms, the former was against the appointment of the latter as the leader of the country. In this regard, realizing the danger, Lenin, on the eve of his death, tried to build a tactical alliance with Trotsky. The death of the leader guaranteed Joseph Stalin absolute power. Quite a lot of political events took place in the year of Lenin's death. After his death, personnel changes began in the management apparatus. Many figures were eliminated by Stalin. New people took their place.
Opinions of some scientists
Vladimir Ilyich died in middle age (it’s easy to calculate how old Lenin died). Scientists say that the walls of the leader’s cerebral vessels were less strong than necessary for his 53 years. However, the causes of destruction in brain tissue remain unclear. There were no objective provoking factors for this: Vladimir Ilyich was young enough for this and did not belong to the risk group for pathologies of this kind. In addition, the politician did not smoke himself and did not allow smokers to visit him. He was neither overweight nor diabetic. Vladimir Ilyich did not suffer from hypertension or other heart pathologies. After the death of the leader, rumors appeared that his body was affected by syphilis, but no evidence of this was found. Some experts talk about heredity. As you know, the date of Lenin’s death is January 21, 1924. He lived a year less than his father, who died at the age of 54. Vladimir Ilyich could have a predisposition to vascular pathologies. In addition, the party leader was in a state of stress almost constantly. He was often haunted by fears for his life. There was more than enough excitement both in youth and in adulthood.
Events after the death of the leader
There is no exact information about who killed Lenin. However, Trotsky in one of his articles claimed that Stalin poisoned the leader. In particular, he wrote that in February 1923, during a meeting of members of the Politburo, Joseph Vissarionovich announced that Vladimir Ilyich urgently required him to join him. Lenin asked for poison. The leader began to lose the ability to speak again and considered his situation hopeless. He did not believe the doctors, he suffered, but kept his thoughts clear. Stalin told Trotsky that Vladimir Ilyich was tired of suffering and wanted to have poison with him so that when it became completely unbearable, he would end everything. However, Trotsky was categorically against it (at least, that’s what he said then). This episode is confirmed - Lenin’s secretary told the writer Beck about this incident. Trotsky argued that with his words, Stalin was trying to provide himself with an alibi, having actually planned to poison the leader.
Several facts refuting that the leader of the proletariat was poisoned
Some historians believe that the most reliable information in the official doctors' report is the date of Lenin's death. The autopsy of the body was carried out in compliance with the necessary formalities. The General Secretary, Stalin, took care of this. During the autopsy, doctors did not look for poison. But even if there were insightful specialists, they would most likely put forward a version of suicide. It is assumed that the leader did not receive poison from Stalin after all. Otherwise, after Lenin’s death, the successor would have destroyed all the witnesses and people who were close to Ilyich so that not a single trace would remain. Moreover, at the time of his death, the leader of the proletariat was practically helpless. Doctors did not predict significant improvements, so the likelihood of restoration of health was low.
Facts confirming poisoning
It should be said, however, that the version according to which Vladimir Ilyich died from poison has many supporters. There are even a number of facts that confirm this. For example, the writer Soloviev devoted many pages to this issue. In particular, in the book “Operation Mausoleum” the author confirms Trotsky’s reasoning with a number of arguments:
There is also evidence from doctor Gabriel Volkov. It should be said that this doctor was arrested shortly after the death of the leader. While in the detention center, Volkov told Elizabeth Lesotho, his cellmate, about what happened on the morning of January 21. The doctor brought Lenin a second breakfast at 11 o’clock. Vladimir Ilyich was in bed, and when he saw Volkov, he tried to get up and extended his hands to him. However, the politician lost his strength, and he fell onto the pillows again. At the same time, a note fell out of his hand. Volkov managed to hide her before the doctor Elistratov came in and gave a calming injection. Vladimir Ilyich fell silent and closed his eyes, as it turned out, forever. And only in the evening, when Lenin had already died, Volkov was able to read the note. In it, the leader wrote that he was poisoned. Solovyov believes that the politician was poisoned with mushroom soup, which contained dried poisonous mushroom cortinarius ciosissimus, which caused Lenin’s quick death. The struggle for power after the death of the leader was not violent. Stalin received absolute power and became the leader of the country, eliminating all people he disliked. The years of Lenin's birth and death became memorable for the Soviet people for a long time.
